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aaaleksic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I'm really getting through all these free university books right now! I'll be honest in saying I was most excited to read this book from the pile, even though I wasn't completely sure what it would be about. All I knew was that this book sought to analyze the technical progress humans had undergone since the beginning of civilization itself. I was drawn to the deconstructive historical analysis that it offered on the subject and just knew I had to read it next. I certainly was not disappointed. Despite the time it was written, many of the arguments and warnings delivered by the author are applicable to this day. The spiritual loss that accompanies the unfulfilling work that only serves to resuscitate our mechanical world view, the utter isolation that we feel and help to implement in our public infrastructure, the academic denial of their own human subjectivity and deliberating separating ourselves from the environment which formed us, our complete derangement and psychotic behavior towards all things living to mildly convenience us- all of which only accumulates into an ultimately destructive ideology that only seeks to destroy us all. None of these things, though we increasingly see more and more people willing to stand up against complete moral degradation, have completely left our current world view. Even after 50 something years since this book was published, it's as though the mechanical view of life has never left us, though we are beginning to foresee the consequences associated with such behavior. It might not be long until a ‘planetary interchange of hydrogen bombs or scientifically contrived plagues’ brings humanity to its swift conclusion.
This all sounds very doom and gloom, and part of me was worried that the author would end it there without giving at least a suggestion to a solution or a way out. Certainly, based on the material contained in this book, I had no reason to think otherwise. Extraordinarily, though, the author provides a glimmer of hope by the end of the book. He reminds the reader that this mechanicalized form of society is one which is only created by the human psyche, that it lives and dies by us. We can choose to let it destroy us, but it can never choose to destroy us without our help, and if more of us choose to remove the shackles of machines in favor of love and mutual aid, then we’ll regain the humanity that is currently lost on us.
I already know this book will have a profound impact on my worldview. I’m already seeking ways in which I can live more genuinely and with love for my fellow man as a result. It helps that the prose is wonderfully written as well. The author keeps an academic tone but isn't afraid to be poetic and call out to the human spirit, much in line with the message of the book. My only wish for this book is a minor technical issue (and even as I type it out, it seems too silly to even mention considering the impact this book has left on me). There were many mentions of historical occurrences throughout the book that were used in the author's argument that I was excited to learn more about, but even with the bibliography at the end it was extremely hard to find out what exactly the author is referencing. Of course, I can always look into it online, but I would've been interesting to know exactly where the author had heard about it as well, considering I didn't know about some things at all (like the use of human skin as a lampshade in Nazi Germany or the policy of mass extermination of civilians from the air advocated by William Mitchell). There were also some analytic inconsistencies that I was annoyed with, like the rant against modern art and rock music. I don't necessarily disagree with his analysis, but it did seem a bit out of place with his overreaching point, especially when he concluded that these must be manifestations of the mechanical worldview in a different form. Art and music evolve as a result of the culture which forms around it, and while I definitely agree that the mechanical ideology has heavily influenced and corrupted these occupations through profit, I also don't think the type of art and music associated are themselves to blame. If anything, they started from individuals who wanted to create something new, something to invigorate the soul again, like every other piece of art or music created during various other ideologies. It seems less like a tirade against the machine and more like a tirade against very natural human responses to such a parasitic culture, which seems against what the book stands for.
I don't want to end on a bad note, though. Really, that was the only aspect of the authors analysis that I took issue with, but everything else was so acute and touched the soul in a way that's not easy for lots of academics to do. Probably because this book feels like a defense of the soul against the cold, ‘objective’ view of the world. For that alone, I commemorate this author for undertaking a task I know many academics are afraid to do. I know I will strive to make a world a less cold and uncaring place as best as I can, and I'll keep this book close to my heart as I do so.
This all sounds very doom and gloom, and part of me was worried that the author would end it there without giving at least a suggestion to a solution or a way out. Certainly, based on the material contained in this book, I had no reason to think otherwise. Extraordinarily, though, the author provides a glimmer of hope by the end of the book. He reminds the reader that this mechanicalized form of society is one which is only created by the human psyche, that it lives and dies by us. We can choose to let it destroy us, but it can never choose to destroy us without our help, and if more of us choose to remove the shackles of machines in favor of love and mutual aid, then we’ll regain the humanity that is currently lost on us.
I already know this book will have a profound impact on my worldview. I’m already seeking ways in which I can live more genuinely and with love for my fellow man as a result. It helps that the prose is wonderfully written as well. The author keeps an academic tone but isn't afraid to be poetic and call out to the human spirit, much in line with the message of the book. My only wish for this book is a minor technical issue (and even as I type it out, it seems too silly to even mention considering the impact this book has left on me). There were many mentions of historical occurrences throughout the book that were used in the author's argument that I was excited to learn more about, but even with the bibliography at the end it was extremely hard to find out what exactly the author is referencing. Of course, I can always look into it online, but I would've been interesting to know exactly where the author had heard about it as well, considering I didn't know about some things at all (like the use of human skin as a lampshade in Nazi Germany or the policy of mass extermination of civilians from the air advocated by William Mitchell). There were also some analytic inconsistencies that I was annoyed with, like the rant against modern art and rock music. I don't necessarily disagree with his analysis, but it did seem a bit out of place with his overreaching point, especially when he concluded that these must be manifestations of the mechanical worldview in a different form. Art and music evolve as a result of the culture which forms around it, and while I definitely agree that the mechanical ideology has heavily influenced and corrupted these occupations through profit, I also don't think the type of art and music associated are themselves to blame. If anything, they started from individuals who wanted to create something new, something to invigorate the soul again, like every other piece of art or music created during various other ideologies. It seems less like a tirade against the machine and more like a tirade against very natural human responses to such a parasitic culture, which seems against what the book stands for.
I don't want to end on a bad note, though. Really, that was the only aspect of the authors analysis that I took issue with, but everything else was so acute and touched the soul in a way that's not easy for lots of academics to do. Probably because this book feels like a defense of the soul against the cold, ‘objective’ view of the world. For that alone, I commemorate this author for undertaking a task I know many academics are afraid to do. I know I will strive to make a world a less cold and uncaring place as best as I can, and I'll keep this book close to my heart as I do so.
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